Sealed letter preparing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A sealed letter preparing apparatus  1  includes a printing unit  2  that performs printing on an envelope and an enclosure alternately, and an enclosing-sealing unit  3 . The enclosing-sealing unit is configured to carry the printed envelope by the first carrier passage  10 , carry the printed sheet as the enclosure by the second carrier passage  20 , enclose the enclosure in the envelope by the envelope opening-enclosing means  60  at an intersection position of the both passages, and seal the envelope by a sealing means  70  so as to discharge the envelope into a discharge stocker  44 . The sealed letter preparing apparatus has a simple and compact structure with less incidence of enclosing error, which is suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sealed letter preparing apparatus capable of automatically performing a series of operations including printing an envelope or a paper to be formed as the envelope, and a sheet to be enclosed as an enclosure as needed, enclosing the required enclosure in the envelope, and sealing the envelope.

BACKGROUND

In the case where DM (direct mail) is prepared by a company sales department and a retailer, it is often the case of outsourcing printing of the sheet as the enclosure from the printing company, and performing the printing of the address on the envelope by its own printing machine, that is, printing of the sheet and printing of the envelope are performed through separate printing means. In such a case, generally, the printed paper is enclosed in the envelope using a desk type enclosing-sealing machine with a relatively simple structure or manually so that the envelope is sealed. There is an apparatus that automatically processes a series of operations of printing, enclosing and sealing. However, such apparatus is costly and requires a wide installation area. It has therefore been difficult for the user who does not frequently need preparation of the DM to purchase such apparatus.

Patent Literature 1 discloses the enclosing-sealing machine usable as the desk type enclosing-sealing machine as described above which is provided with sheet folding means configured to fold the sheet to be enclosed in the envelope. This machine includes an automatic sheet feeding unit that automatically feeds the uppermost sheet from a pile of provided sheets to the sheet folding means, and manual sheet feeding means that feeds a manually supplied sheet to the sheet folding means, and is configured to select and drive the sheet feed mode from the automatic sheet feed mode, manual sheet supply mode, and a mix mode that allows the sheet feed from the automatic sheet feeding unit and the manual sheet feeding means simultaneously.

When using the desk type enclosing-sealing machine as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 for the purpose of preparing one-to-one direct mail having the content to be printed on the enclosure sheet different for each envelope, it has been necessary to accord the order of piling the enclosure sheets to be set on the paper feed base with the order of piling the envelopes to be set on the envelope feed base. In the case where the sheets and envelopes have been printed in the different places through different means, for example, by outsourcing the printing of the enclosure while printing the envelopes in-house, difference in such conditions as the output order and insertion of interleaf may occur. Therefore, sufficient confirmation is required for preventing an enclosing error when setting them on the sheet feeder base of the desk type enclosing-sealing machine. Meanwhile, as for the manual enclosing operation, it may require man-hours to prevent an enclosing error, resulting in prolonged processing time.

The present invention has been made with regard to the aforementioned problem, and is intended to provide a sealed letter preparing apparatus configured to have the envelope (or sheet to be formed as the envelope), and the necessary enclosure sheet (which is not necessarily required) printed thereon, enclose the enclosure in the envelope, and seal the envelope for formation of the sealed letter. The apparatus with simple and compact structure hardly causes the problem of enclosing error, such as enclosing failure and enclosing of wrong enclosure. This allows users to prepare the sealed letter efficiently by themselves, especially suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A sealed letter preparing apparatus as claim 1 performs printing on an envelope and an enclosure, and enclosing the enclosure in the envelope so as to be sealed to form a sealed letter, which includes a printing unit that performs printing on the envelope and the enclosure, respectively for each of the sealed letters to be prepared, a first carrier passage that carries the envelope printed by the printing unit, a second carrier passage that carries the enclosure printed by the printing unit, and enclosing-sealing means located at a position where the first passage and the second passage join, which performs sealing after enclosing the enclosure in the envelope.

In the sealed letter preparing apparatus as claim 2 according to claim 1, the envelope is formed by folding a sheet to be formed as the envelope, the first carrier passage is provided with first folding means that folds the sheet to be formed as the envelope into a shape of the envelope, and the enclosing-sealing means performs sealing after enclosing the enclosure in the sheet folded by the first folding means to be formed as the envelope.

In the sealed letter preparing apparatus as claim 3 according to claim 1 or 2, the enclosure is formed by folding the sheet to be formed as the enclosure, the second carrier passage is provided with an alignment member that holds the sheet to be formed as the enclosure, and second folding means that folds the sheet to be formed as the enclosure held at the alignment member, and the enclosing-sealing means performs sealing after enclosing the sheet to be formed as the enclosure, which has been folded by the second folding means in the envelope.

The term envelope used herein refers not only to the pouch-like envelope in the ordinary sense but also to the sheet before it is folded and formed into the pouch-like envelope. The envelope in the ordinary sense may be commercial or ready-made article, or self-produced. In the present invention, the enclosure is enclosed in the envelope as needed. Therefore, in the case where no enclosure is required to be enclosed in the envelope for sealing, the resultant sealed letter without enclosure may be regarded as the sealed letter to be formed by the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the present invention. According to the present invention, the sheet as the enclosure does not have to be folded to be enclosed in the envelope. The sheet may be enclosed in the envelope as it is printed.

The sealed letter preparing apparatus according to claim 1 is configured to allow a common printing unit for printing both the envelope and the enclosure to perform printing on the envelope and the enclosure alternately for each of the sealed letters to be prepared. The printed envelope is carried on a dedicated first carrier passage, and the printed enclosure is carried on a dedicated second carrier passage so that the enclosing-sealing means provided at a junction of those carrier passages makes a pair of the envelope and the enclosure without error, encloses the enclosure in the envelope, and seals the envelope for formation of the sealed letter. The apparatus is suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail having the enclosure different for the respective envelopes. Especially when preparing the sealed letter using the ready-made envelope, the apparatus ensures to perform a series of operations including printing the envelope and the enclosure, enclosing the enclosure, and sealing the envelope full-automatically with no errors.

The sealed letter preparing apparatus according to claim 2 is configured so that the common printing unit for printing both the envelope and the enclosure performs printing on the sheet to be folded into the envelope and the corresponding enclosure alternately for each of the sealed letters to be prepared and discharged. The thus printed sheet to be formed as the envelope is carried on the dedicated first carrier passage while being folded by first folding means so as to receive the enclosure. Meanwhile, the printed enclosure is carried on the dedicated second carrier passage. The enclosing-sealing means provided at the junction of both the carrier passages makes an alignment of the sheet as the envelope allowed to receive the enclosure with the enclosure without errors. The sheet to be formed as the envelope is further carried while being folded to finish forming the envelope, and the enclosure is enclosed. The envelope is sealed to prepare the sealed letter. It is suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail having the enclosure different for each of the envelopes, and makes it possible to perform a series of complicated process steps including operations of printing the sheet to be formed as the envelope and the enclosure, folding the sheet into the envelope while having the enclosure enclosed therein, and sealing the envelope full-automatically with no errors.

The sealed letter preparing apparatus according to claim 3 is configured so that the common printing unit for printing both the envelope and the enclosure performs printing on the envelope or the sheet to be folded into the envelope, and the sheet as corresponding enclosure alternately for each of the sealed letters to be prepared and discharged. Then the printed envelope or the sheet to be formed as the envelope is carried on the dedicated first carrier passage. The sheet to be formed as the envelope is folded by the first folding means into the shape to allow reception of the enclosure. The printed enclosure sheet is carried on the dedicated second carrier passage so as to be held at the alignment member, and further folded by the second folding means. The enclosing-sealing means provided at the junction of both the carrier passages makes an alignment of the envelope with the enclosure with no errors, encloses the enclosure in the envelope, and seals the envelope to prepare the sealed letter. It is therefore suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail having the enclosure different for each of the respective envelopes, and makes it possible to perform a series of complicated processing steps of operations including printing the envelope or the sheet to be formed as the envelope, and the sheet to be formed as the enclosure, enclosing the enclosure formed by folding the sheet in the envelope, and sealing the envelope full-automatically with no errors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a structure of a sealed letter preparing apparatus according to a first embodiment, indicating a flow of an envelope in the apparatus by arrows.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a structure of the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment, indicating a flow of an enclosure in the apparatus by arrows.

FIG. 3 is a front view of folding means for folding the enclosure in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the folding means for folding the enclosure as a modified example in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 represents process steps of folding the enclosure in three inward using the folding means in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown by FIGS. 5( a) to 5(d).

FIG. 6 represents process steps of folding the enclosure in three inward using the folding means in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown by FIGS. 6( a) to 6(c).

FIG. 7 represents the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment, wherein FIG. 7( a) shows that the enclosure is folded in Z-shape by the folding means, and FIG. 7( b) shows that the enclosure is folded in four by the folding means.

FIG. 8 represents process steps of enclosing the enclosure in the envelope performed by the enclosing-sealing unit in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown by FIGS. 8( a) to 8(e).

FIG. 9 represents process steps of enclosing the enclosure in the envelope performed by the enclosing-sealing unit in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown by FIGS. 9( a) to 9(d).

FIG. 10 represents process steps of sealing the envelope performed by the enclosing-sealing unit in the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment shown by FIGS. 10( a) to 10(c).

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view of a structure of the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the first embodiment, indicating process steps of sealing the envelope and discharging the sealed envelope in the apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view of a structure of a sealed letter preparing apparatus according to a second embodiment, indicating a flow of forming the envelope in the apparatus by arrows.

FIG. 13 is a schematic sectional view of a structure of the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the second embodiment, indicating a flow of the enclosure in the apparatus by arrows.

FIG. 14 is a schematic sectional view of a structure of the sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the second embodiment, indicating process steps of enclosing and sealing operations and discharging the sealed envelope in the apparatus.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A sealed letter preparing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention to be described below is configured to perform continuous printing on a ready-made envelope or the sheet to be folded into the envelope, and the sheet to be formed as the enclosure (equal to 0 or more) for each of the sealed letters to be prepared in the most time-efficient order, subject them to required folding while carrying on different carrier passages, respectively, finally join them so that the enclosure is enclosed in the envelope, close the flap of the envelope to form the sealed letter, and place the sealed letters on the apparatus in alignment so as to be discharged.

The first embodiment uses the ready-made envelope, and the second embodiment prepares the envelope by folding the sheet so as to be used. In the first embodiment, the fold defined by the envelope body and the flap is a center portion at which the flap is opened and closed, which is shown as a black circle (FIGS. 1, 20 and 12) or a white circle (FIGS. 8 to 10) for the sake of convenience in the drawings. The moving passage of the sheet is indicated by arrows so as to correspond to the respective descriptions of the embodiments.

1. First Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 11

A sealed letter preparing apparatus 1 according to a first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is configured to allow a common printing unit 2 to perform required printing on an envelope that has been already formed to have a pouch-like shape (for example, ready-made envelope and the like) and a sheet to be formed as the enclosure, the number of which is equal to 0 or more for each of the sealed letters to be formed in the appropriate order, carry them on the carrier passages as separate lines while subjecting the enclosure, if any, to the required folding on the carrier passage, finally join them at the enclosing-sealing means, enclose the enclosure in the envelope, seal the envelope, and discharge them in alignment on the apparatus.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sealed letter preparing apparatus 1 is provided with the printing unit 2 that performs printing on the sheets to be formed as the envelope and the enclosure, and discharges them. The printing unit 2 includes a plurality of paper feed bases P (P1 to P4) capable of storing a plurality of kinds of printed objects (sheet of paper and envelope) inside or at the side of a housing 4 that stores the respective components of the apparatus. In this embodiment, the paper feed base P1 attached to the side surface of the housing stores the envelopes, and the paper feed bases P2 to P4 provided inside the housing store paper sheets to be formed as enclosures.

The sheet fed from the paper feed base P is supplied from an introduction passage to a loop-like carrier passage 5, and carried to the printing means located at a predetermined interval directed downward along the lower half of the carrier passage so as to form an image. In this embodiment, four ink jet devices C, K, M and Y are employed as the printing means for discharging color inks of cyan, black, magenta, and yellow, respectively.

The loop-like carrier passage 5 is provided with a first discharge passage 6 branched from a portion adjacent to the printing means at the downstream side, which discharges the sheet outside the loop in a substantially horizontal direction. The loop-like carrier passage 5 is provided with a second discharge passage 7 branched from the upper half part, which discharges the sheet outside the loop. A switch back passage 8 is provided as a branch between the second discharge passage 7 and the introduction passage from the paper feed base P. The switch back passage 8 reverses a path of the sheet that has been carried on the carrier passage 5 and received so as to be returned to the carrier passage 5 for the purpose of reversing top and bottom surfaces of the sheet during carriage on the carrier passage 5. The color duplex printing for forming color images on both surfaces of the sheet through the ink jet devices C, K, M and Y may be performed by passing the sheet on the carrier passage 5 twice while reversing the top and bottom surfaces using the switch back passage 8.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an enclosing-sealing unit 3 is provided adjacent to the printing unit 2, which receives and processes the envelope and sheet fed from the first discharge passage 6 of the printing unit 2, encloses the sheet in the envelope, and seals the envelope.

As shown in FIG. 1, a first carrier passage 10 for carrying the envelope printed by the printing unit 2 is provided inside a housing 9 of the enclosing-sealing unit 3. The first carrier passage 10 includes one passage 11 that feeds the envelope that has been horizontally fed from the first discharge passage 6 of the printing unit 2 along the carrier direction diagonally upward, an envelope stocker 12 diagonally directed in substantially parallel with the passage 11 provided on the upper surface of the housing 9 for temporarily storing the envelopes fed from the passage 11, and another passage 13 that takes the envelope from the envelope stocker 12 into the housing 9 to feed it diagonally downward.

At a terminal end of the other passage 13, envelope inversion means 50, and envelope opening-enclosing means 60 and sealing means 70 which are functioning as the enclosing-sealing means are provided. Structures and operations of those elements will be described later.

Referring to FIG. 2, a second carrier passage 20 for carrying the sheet that has been printed by the printing unit 2 is provided inside the housing 9 of the enclosing-sealing unit 3. The second carrier passage 20 is located below the first carrier passage 10, and has one passage 21 that feeds the sheet that has been horizontally supplied from the first discharge passage 6 of the printing unit 2 diagonally downward.

As shown in FIG. 3, sheet carrier rollers 22 and an alignment member 23 as an openable gate are provided at the middle of the passage 21. The carried sheets are held at the alignment member 23 that closes the passage 21 so that the sheets are piled up and stored in the passage 21. A terminal end of the passage 21 is provided with folding means for folding the sheet. The folding means is provided with a main roller A rotatable at the center, and further a first folding roller B, a second folding roller C and a sheet carrier roller D which are rotatably in contact with the main folding roller A, respectively. Abutment members 24 and 25 on which a leading end of the sheet that has been nipped and carried by the folding rollers A, B and C, and the carrier roller D abuts at two positions around the first and the second folding rollers B and C. Those members bend the sheet that has been carried and abutted so that the bent portion of the sheet is guided between the other two folding rollers A, B and A, C so as to be folded twice or more.

As shown in FIG. 3, positions of the abutment members 24 and 25 are variable, and allowed to adjust the folding length. As FIG. 4 shows, carrier rollers 24 a and 25 a are provided in place of the abutment members 24 and 25, which may provide the similar functions to those of the abutment members 24 and 25 by stopping rotations of the carrier rollers 24 a and 25 a.

The step of folding the sheet by the folding rollers A, B and C will be described referring to FIGS. 5 and 6. The alignment member 23 is not shown in those drawings for convenience.

As shown in FIG. 5( a), a sheet 30 that has been fed through the sheet carrier rollers 22 along the passage 21 is nipped and carried between the main folding roller A and the sheet carrier roller D. As shown in FIG. 5( b), the sheet 30 is nipped and carried between the main folding roller A and the sheet carrier roller D having the leading end abutted on the abutment member 24. As shown in FIG. 5( c), the sheet 30 is further carried while being abutted on the abutment member 24. It is sagged along the shape of the passage 21 therein, and nipped between the main folding roller A and the first folding roller B. As shown in FIG. 5( d), the sheet 30 is nipped between the main folding roller A and the first folding roller B, and folded in two while being carried.

As shown in FIG. 6( a), the sheet 30 abuts on the second abutment member 25, and is further carried to be sagged along the shape of the passage 21 therein. It is then nipped between the main folding roller A and the second folding roller C. Referring to FIG. 6( b), as the sheet 30 is carried through the main folding roller A and the second folding roller C, it is brought into the stage of being folded in three inward. As shown in FIG. 6( c), the folding of the sheet in three inward is finished.

As shown in FIG. 7( a), the Z-shaped folding may be made by moving the first abutment member 24 far away from the folding portion. As shown in FIG. 7( b), the sheet may be folded in four by moving the first abutment member 24 far away from the folding portion, and moving the second abutment member 25 closer to the folding portion.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the housing 9 of the enclosing-sealing unit 3, the second carrier passage 20 includes another passage 26 that carries the sheet 30 folded by the folding means continuously in the direction diagonally upward substantially orthogonal to the passage 21. The other passage 26 is located below the other passage 13 of the first carrier passage 10 that feeds the envelope diagonally downward, and joins with the passage 13 of the first carrier passage 10 at the envelope inversion means 50 and the envelope opening-enclosing means 60 that constitutes a part of the enclosing-sealing means.

As shown in FIG. 1 and a part of FIG. 8, the envelope inversion means 50 is formed of a sheet carrier roller a, sheet carrier rollers b and g located to interpose the sheet carrier roller a, and two passages 27 and 28 that extend downward and diagonally upward, respectively. An envelope 40 that has been fed from the other passage 13 of the first carrier passage 10 is brought into the position between the sheet carrier rollers a and g while having a flap F directed left downward. It is nipped and carried so as to be fed to the passage 27 below. As shown in FIG. 8( a), the envelope 40 is nipped between the sheet carrier rollers a and b, and fed to the passage 28 diagonally upward. As shown in FIG. 8( b), it is fed to the envelope opening-enclosing means 60 to be described later while having the flap F directed left upward.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 8, the envelope opening-enclosing means 60 includes the aforementioned sheet carrier rollers a, b, the passage 28 extending diagonally upward from these sheet carrier rollers a, b, a horizontal passage 29, a sheet carrier roller c that carries the envelope and the sheet 30 in the opposite directions, respectively along the horizontal passage 29, the sheet carrier roller d that carries the envelope having the sheet 30 enclosed, and an opening claw 41 that swingably reciprocates to open the flap of the envelope.

As shown in FIG. 8( a), the envelope 40 having its direction inverted by the envelope inversion means 50 is carried between the sheet carrier rollers a and b, and is further fed by the sheet carrier roller c that normally rotates along the horizontal passage 29. As shown in FIG. 8( b), the inverse rotation of the sheet carrier roller c and rotation of the sheet carrier roller d serve to locate the envelope 40 to a predetermined position, and then it is stopped. As shown in FIGS. 8( c) to 8(e), the opening claw 41 moves to an opening position to open the flap F of the envelope 40, and at least one folded sheet 30 (there may be no sheet 30) that has been carried along the second carrier passage 20 is further fed into the envelope 40 through the sheet carrier rollers a to c. During this time, the envelope 40 has its position fixed by the sheet carrier roller d.

As shown in FIG. 9( a), the folded sheet 30 is enclosed in the opened envelope 40 to finish enclosing. As shown in FIG. 9( b), the opening claw 41 is returned to a waiting position, and the inverse rotation of the sheet carrier roller c and the rotation of the sheet carrier roller d move the envelope 40 so as to be fed to the subsequent stage as shown in FIGS. 9( c) and 9(d).

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 10, the envelope 40 and the like fed from the sheet carrier roller d passes through the passage 42 that is tilted diagonally front upward, and is fed to the sealing means 70. The passage 42 is located above the other passage 13 directed diagonally downward of the first carrier passage 10, and is in substantially parallel therewith. A pair of sheet carrier rollers e and f that constitutes the sealing means 70 is provided above the passage 42.

As shown in FIGS. 10( a) to 10(c), the envelope 40 fed along the passage 42 abuts on the terminal end of the passage 42 having a fold 43 of the flap F folded, and is brought into the position between the sheet carrier rollers e and f. If the sheet carrier rollers e and f are driven simultaneously, the flap F is closed so that the envelope 40 is fed to the upper surface of the housing 9.

As shown in FIG. 11, the discharge stocker 44 is provided on the upper surface of the housing 9 to the rear of the aforementioned envelope stocker 12 in substantially parallel therewith to ensure reception of the sequentially fed envelopes 40 each having the sheet 30 enclosed and sealed (that is, finished sealed letter 45). Those sealed letters 45 are moved diagonally upward while being piled up in alignment on the discharge stocker 44.

Then overall procedures performed in the sealed letter preparing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment as described above will be explained with respect to operations of printing the address on the ready-made envelope 40, performing the required printing on a plurality of sheets 30, folding them, enclosing the sheet 30 in the envelope 40, and sealing the envelope.

Referring to FIG. 1, in the printing unit 2, the envelope 40 is fed from the paper feed base P1 so that both surfaces of the envelope 40 are printed using the ink jet devices C, K, M and Y while it is making a round of the loop-like carrier passage 5. The simplex printing instead of the duplex printing may be selected. The envelope 40 is fed to the enclosing-sealing unit 3, and brought into the envelope stocker 12 from the one passage 11 of the first carrier passage 10. It is further brought into the envelop inversion means 50 from the other passage 13 to have the direction inverted, and then fed into the envelope opening-enclosing means 60. As shown in FIGS. 8( a) to 8(e), the envelope 40 has the flap F opened by the opening claw 41, and is kept standby while being kept opened.

As shown in FIG. 2, subsequent to the envelope 40, the sheet 30 is fed to the loop-like carrier passage 5 from any of the paper feed bases P2 to P4 at a predetermined interval. While it is making one round of the carrier passage, both surfaces of the sheet 30 are printed through the ink jet devices C, K, M and Y. The simplex printing instead of the duplex printing may be selected. The sheets 30 are stored at the alignment member 23 of the second carrier passage 20 until the number of the sheets reaches the required value. When the number reaches the required value, the alignment member 23 is opened to allow those sheets to be fed to the folding means. The sheets 30 folded by the folding means into the desired state pass the envelop inversion means 50, and are fed into the envelope opening-enclosing means 60. That is, as shown in FIGS. 8( c) to 8(e), and FIGS. 9( a) to 9(d), a plurality of folded sheets 30 are enclosed in the respective envelopes 40.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the envelope 40 having the sheet 30 enclosed is fed to the sealing means 70, and passes between the sheet carrier rollers e and f to close the flap F. It is then discharged to the discharge stocker 44 as the finished sealed letter 45.

The sealed letter preparing apparatus according to the embodiment is configured to allow the common printing unit 2 for printing the envelope 40 and the sheet 30 as the enclosure to perform printing on the envelope 40 and the sheet 30 alternately for each of the sealed letters 45 to be prepared, discharge the printed envelope and sheet, carry the printed envelope 40 on the dedicated first carrier passage 10 and the printed sheet 30 on the dedicated second carrier passage 20, and enclose the sheet 30 in the envelope 40 using the envelope opening-enclosing means 60 at the position of intersection between terminal ends of both the carrier passages 10 and 20. This makes it possible to avoid an error of pairing the enclosure and the envelope 40. Accordingly, it is suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail having the enclosure different for each of the envelopes. Especially when preparing the sealed letter using the ready-made envelope, the apparatus ensures to execute the process steps of operations including printing the envelope and enclosure to the enclosing-sealing operation full-automatically with no errors.

In this embodiment, the envelope 40 is set on the paper feed base P1 of the printing unit 2, and is fed to the enclosing-sealing unit 3 after printing. If the envelopes 40 are already printed, they may be piled up in the predetermined order, and stored in the envelope stocker 12 so as to be supplied. When feeding the envelopes 40 set on the paper feed base P1 of the printing unit 2 to the enclosing-sealing unit 3 after printing, the embodiment is configured to discharge the envelopes 40 to the envelope stocker 12 once, and then return them to the passage 13 of the first carrier passage 10 again. The apparatus may be configured to directly feed the envelopes 40 to the other passage 13 from the printing unit 2 without passing the first passage 11.

The enclosing-sealing unit 3 according to the embodiment is configured so that the first carrier passage 10 that carries the envelope 40 includes the passage 13 located at the center upper portion inside the housing 9 while being directed diagonally downward. The second carrier passage 20 that carries the sheet 30 located below the passage 13 includes the passage 21 directed diagonally downward so as to be substantially in parallel with the passage 13 of the first carrier passage 10, and the passage 26 substantially orthogonal to the passage 21 while being directed diagonally upward. The terminal ends of the carrier passages 10 and 20 join at the envelope inversion means 50 and the envelope opening-enclosing means 60. The passage 42 that extends from the envelope opening-enclosing means 60 to the sealing unit 70 is located above the passage 13 of the first carrier passage 10 while being directed diagonally upward so as to be in substantially parallel with the passage 13. Many carrier passages are efficiently arranged in the minimum clearance by using the inner space of the housing 9 effectively. The resultant structure is sophisticated to avoid an enclosing error in the state where the envelope 40 and the sheet 30 are supplied in the separate lines. However, the apparatus is considerably compact as a whole. The aforementioned structure of the carrier passage allows the prepared sealed letters 45 to be forced out in alignment to the discharge stocker 44 diagonally provided on the upper surface of the housing 9, which is easy to access. As a result, it is easy to handle for collectively taking the prepared sealed letters.

2. Second Embodiment FIGS. 12 to 14

The sealed letter preparing apparatus 1 according to a second embodiment executes the process for each sealed letter to be prepared. In other words, the apparatus performs the required printing on the sheet 30 to be folded into the envelope 40 and the sheet 30 equal to 0 or more as the enclosure in an appropriate order using the common printing unit 2. They are carried through the separate lines of carrier passages. The sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 will be folded to form the envelope 40. The enclosure, if any, is subjected to the required folding. Finally, both sheets are joined at the enclosing-sealing means so that the enclosure is enclosed in the envelope 40, the envelope is sealed, and the finished sealed letters piled on the upper surface of the apparatus are discharged in alignment.

Although not shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, the envelope 40 according to this embodiment is a pouch-like article with a substantially similar structure to that of the envelope 40 as described in the first embodiment. Therefore, the explanation will be made using the same reference numeral of 40 as described in the first embodiment.

In the embodiment, structures of the printing unit 2, the second carrier passage 20 that is provided in the enclosing-sealing unit 3′ and carries the sheet 30 as the enclosure, and the folding means (folding rollers A to C, and sheet carrier roller D and the like) that folds the sheet 30 as the enclosure are the same as those described in the first embodiment. The elements that are the same as and equivalent to those described in the first embodiment will be designated with the same reference codes, and the explanation made in the first embodiment will be applied so as to avoid repetition of the description as much as possible. The required description may use the same codes as those of the first embodiment. Hereinafter, each structure of a first carrier passage 10′ that carries the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40, the folding means that folds the sheet 30 into the envelope 40, and enclosing-sealing means that prepares the sealed letter by aligning the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 with the sheet 30 as the enclosure, and the overall operations will be described referring to FIGS. 12 to 14.

The sealed letter preparing apparatus 1′ is configured so that the first discharge passage 6 of the printing unit 2 horizontally extends so as to be introduced into the housing 9 of the enclosing-sealing unit 3′. In the housing 9, the second carrier passage 20 is branched diagonally downward from the discharge passage 6. The downstream of the discharge passage is formed as one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′, which extends diagonally downward. The one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′ is provided substantially in parallel with the one passage 21 of the second carrier passage 20. The one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′ serves as a guide passage that carries the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 to the folding means. As described above, the one passage 21 of the second carrier passage 20 serves as a guide passage that carries the sheet 30 to be formed as the enclosure to the folding means. Selection between the first and the second carrier passages 10′ and 20 is conducted by a not-shown switching flap formed at the branch point of the second carrier passage 20.

A terminal end of the one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′ is provided with the folding means for folding the sheet 30 to form the envelope 40. The folding means is provided with the rotatable main folding roller A′, and a sheet carrier roller D′ and a first folding roller B′ which rotate in contact with the folding roller A′.

The other passage 13′ of the first carrier passage 10′ is curved upward to have a protrusive shape while extending horizontally from the portion between the main folding roller A′ and the first folding roller B′ of the folding means of the first carrier passage 10′. The terminal end is provided with the enclosing means that constitutes a part of the enclosing-sealing means.

The enclosing means includes a rotatable main folding roller A″, as well as a sheet carrier roller D″, first and second folding rollers B″ and C″ which rotate in contact with the main folding roller A″. A passage 46 that guides the sheet 30 fed from the main folding roller A″ and the sheet carrier roller D″ downward is provided below the main folding roller A″.

The sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 is subjected to folding in the former stage of the sealing by the folding means as needed, and is fed to the main folding roller A″ and the like as the enclosing means for receiving the enclosure. The unfinished envelope that is partially folded is kept standby on the passage 46 so as to be aligned with the sheet 30 as the enclosure, and further folded for forming. The folding in the former stage of sealing is necessary for forming the envelope folded in four. Meanwhile, it is not necessary for forming the envelope folded in three. Therefore, the sheet is expected to pass through the folding means without being folded. In the embodiment, the unfinished envelope is kept standby for alignment with the sheet 30 as the enclosure on the passage 46. This is the case when the envelope reaches the joint position earlier. The enclosure or the envelope, whichever reaches the joint position first, will be kept standby.

The terminal end of the other passage 26 of the second carrier passage 20 is connected between the main folding roller A″ and the first folding roller B″ of the enclosing means. On the second carrier passage 20, the sheet 30 as the enclosure which has been appropriately folded by the folding means (main folding roller A and the like) is fed to the main folding roller A″ of the enclosing means while passing the other passage 26, and is aligned with an unfinished envelope 40′ that is kept standby on the passage 46. The unfinished envelope 40′ and the sheet 30 as the enclosure are subjected to folding through the main folding roller A″, the first and the second rollers B″ and C″ so as to be formed into the state where the sheet 30 is enclosed in the envelope 40.

A passage 47 tilted diagonally front upward is provided from the position between the main folding roller A″ and the second folding roller C″ of the enclosing means. The passage 47 is substantially in parallel with the one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′ and the one passage 21 of the second carrier passage 20. Sealing rollers 80 are provided as the sealing means that constitutes a part of the enclosing-sealing means at the middle of the passage 47. The sealing rollers 80 bond peripheries of the envelope 40 having the enclosure enclosed by the enclosing means for sealing the envelope 40.

The envelope 40 sealed by the sealing rollers 80 is discharged into a discharge tray 48 provided on the upper surface of the housing 9, and sequentially piled up and kept standby for taking out.

The overall procedure performed by the sealed letter preparing apparatus 1′ according to the embodiment as described above will be described, which includes operations of printing the address and the like on the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40, subjecting a plurality of sheets 30 to the required printing, folding them, enclosing the sheet 30 in the envelope 40 formed by folding the sheet 30, and sealing the envelope.

Referring to FIG. 12, the printing unit 2 receives the sheet 30 to be formed into the envelope 40 by folding from the paper feed base P1. In this embodiment, the sheet 30 for forming the envelope 40 may be supplied from any of the paper feed bases P1 to P4 of the printing unit 2. The sheet 30 has its both surfaces printed by the ink jet devices C, K, M and Y while making a round of the loop-like carrier passage 5. The simplex printing instead of the duplex printing may be selected. Generally, the address and the like is printed on the outer surface of the envelope 40, and certain information to be sent to the destination will be printed on the inner surface of the envelope 40 in place of the enclosure that is not enclosed, or with the printed content of the enclosure to be enclosed. The information printed on the inner surface of the envelope 40 may be read by the recipient who opens the envelope 40 by cutting.

The sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 is fed from the one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′ to the folding means by switching the not-shown switching flap. The sheet 30 is fed forward through the main folding roller A′ and the sheet carrier roller D′, and bent while abutting on a not-shown abutment member. It is brought to the position between the main folding roller A′ and the first folding roller B′ from the bent portion, and further nipped and carried to have a part of the leading end in the sheet passing direction folded. FIG. 12 shows that the unfinished envelope 40′ is shown outside the apparatus so as not to be overlapped therewith. The unfinished envelope 40′ that is partially folded is carried through the main folding roller A″ and the sheet carrier roller D″ as the enclosing means, and fed to the passage 46 where it is kept standby while having the lower folded portion directed to the second carrier passage 20.

Referring to FIG. 13, subsequent to the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40, the sheet 30 required as the enclosure is fed into the loop-like carrier passage 5 from any of the paper feed bases P2 to P4 at a predetermined interval. Both surfaces of the sheet 30 are printed by the ink jet devices C, K, M and Y while making two rounds of the carrier passage. The simplex printing instead of the duplex printing may be selected. The sheet 30 as the enclosure is fed to the one passage 21 of the second carrier passage 20 by switching the not-shown switching flap. The sheets 30 are stored at the alignment member 23 on the one passage 21 of the second carrier passage 20 until the number of the sheets reaches the required value. When the number reaches the required value, the alignment member 23 is opened to allow those sheets to be fed to the folding means (main folding roller A and the like). The sheet 30 folded into the required state through a plurality of foldings performed by the folding means is fed to the sealing means (main folding roller A″ and the like) while passing the other passage 22 of the second carrier passage 20. In this embodiment, the sheet 30 is folded in three inward. Referring to FIG. 13, the sheet is shown outside the apparatus so as not to be overlapped therewith. The sheet 30 folded in three inward is carried to the position where it abuts on the upper portion of the folded part of the unfinished envelope 40′. In this embodiment, the unfinished envelope 40′ is fed to the enclosing means first, and then, the sheet 30 as the enclosure is folded and fed to the enclosing means. However, the aforementioned order may be inverted.

Referring to FIG. 14, the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 is set on the outside and folded so as to enclose the sheet 30 as the enclosure inside by the main folding roller A″ and the first and the second folding rollers B″ and C″ as the enclosing means, thus enclosing the sheet 30 in the envelope 40.

As FIG. 14 shows, the sheet 30 as the envelope 40 enclosed with the enclosure is brought into the passage 47 tilted diagonally upward with respect to the upper surface of the housing 9, and passes through the sealing rollers 80 so that the peripheries are bonded together and the envelope 40 is sealed. A pressure-sensitive adhesive is preliminarily applied to the bonded surfaces of the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 so that the sealing is performed under the pressure applied by the aforementioned sealing rollers 80. The sealing may be performed using the other means and normal adhesive agent which are well known.

The finished envelope that has been enclosed and sealed is discharged to the discharge tray 48 provided on the upper surface of the housing 9, and sequentially piled up to be kept standby for being taken out.

The sealed letter preparing apparatus 1′ of the embodiment is configured to allow the common printing unit 2 for printing the respective sheets 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 and as the enclosure respectively to perform printing on the sheet 30 as the envelope 40 and the sheet 30 as the enclosure alternately, and discharge those sheets. The sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 is folded into the envelope while being carried on the dedicated first carrier passage 10′. The sheet 30 as the enclosure is bent while being carried on the dedicated second carrier passage 20. The enclosing means provided at the position of intersection between the terminal ends of the carrier passages finishes formation of the envelope 40 by enclosing the sheet 30 with the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 while folding. The sealed letter is formed by ensuring to form the envelope and the enclosure using the generally employed sheet 30 in the same process step, and perform the enclosing-sealing full-automatically with no errors. Since the operation is efficient and economically excellent as well as unlikely to cause errors in pairing of the enclosure and the envelope, the apparatus is suitable for preparation of one-to-one direct mail having the enclosure different for each of the envelopes. The partially folded sheet as unfinished envelope is aligned with the sheet as the enclosure so that those sheets are integrally folded to form the envelope 40. This may be less likely to cause the insertion error compared to the case of inserting the enclosure in the finished envelope from the opening.

In the enclosing-sealing unit 3′ according to this embodiment, the one passage 11′ of the first carrier passage 10′ for carrying the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40, the one passage 21 of the second carrier passage 20 for carrying the sheet 30 as the enclosure, and the passage 47 to which the main folding roller A″ as the enclosing means and the sealing rollers 80 are provided are diagonally arranged substantially in parallel with one another. The terminal end of the other passage 13′ of the first carrier passage 10′ and the other passage 22 of the second carrier passage 20 are connected to the main folding roller A″ as the enclosing means, respectively. The last passage 47 to which the sealing rollers 80 are provided reaches the upper surface of the housing 9. Many carrier passages are efficiently arranged in the minimum clearance by effectively using the inner space of the housing 9. In spite of the sophisticated structure with less incidence of sealing error through carriage of the sheet 30 to be formed as the envelope 40 and the sheet 30 as the enclosure in the separate lines, the overall structure is considerably compact. As a result of the aforementioned structure of the carrier passages, the prepared sealed letters will be forced out in alignment into the discharge tray 48 provided diagonally on the upper surface of the housing 9 for easy taking. Handling of them upon taking is convenient.

3. Modified Example of the Embodiment

Each of the aforementioned sealed letter preparing apparatuses 1 and 1′ according to the respective embodiments is provided with the printing unit 2. However, an existing image forming apparatus may be used as the printing unit 2. That is, the sealed letter preparing apparatus 1 or 1′ according to the present invention may be provided by connecting the enclosing-sealing unit 3 or 3′ to the normally employed image forming apparatus that has already been installed in the office as the printing unit 2 according to the present invention. In this case, the existing image forming apparatus may be used for printing on both the envelope and the enclosure, resulting in reduced cost for installation of the automatic sealed letter preparing apparatus.

The ink jet device as described in the embodiments may be used as the image forming apparatus. Any kind of image forming means may be used regardless of image forming principle.

Each of the embodiments has been described with respect to the case where at least one sheet as the enclosure is folded so as to be enclosed in the envelope. In the case where the inner surface of the envelope is printed with required content for delivery, so called self mailer, operations of printing the sheet as the enclosure and enclosing such enclosure are not required.

When using the enclosure, the sheet as the enclosure does not have to be folded. Depending on the respective sizes of the envelope and the enclosure, it may be enclosed into the envelope as it is without being folded. In such a case, the enclosing-sealing unit 3 or 3′ of the sealed letter preparing apparatus 1 or 1′ does not need the folding unit (folding roller and the like) for folding the sheet 30 as the enclosure.

In each of the embodiments, a sheet-type paper is used as the sheet for forming the envelope and the enclosure. For example, the paper in the roll state may be used by cutting into the required length for each time of use so as to be supplied.

EXPLANATIONS OF LETTERS OR NUMERALS

-   1,1′ . . . sealed letter preparing apparatus -   2 . . . printing unit -   3,3′ . . . enclosing-sealing unit -   10,10′ . . . first carrier passage -   11,11′ . . . one passage of the first carrier passage -   13,13′ . . . the other passage of the first carrier passage -   20 . . . second carrier passage -   21 . . . one passage of the second carrier passage -   26 . . . the other passage of the second carrier passage -   30 . . . sheet -   40 . . . envelope -   40′ . . . unfinished envelope -   50 . . . envelope inversion means -   60 . . . envelope opening-enclosing means as a part of the     enclosing-sealing means -   70 . . . sealing means as a part of the enclosing-sealing means -   80 . . . sealing roller as the sealing means as a part of the     enclosing-sealing means -   A,A′ . . . main folding roller as folding means -   B,B′ . . . first folding roller as folding means -   C . . . second folding roller as folding means -   D,D′ . . . sheet carrier roller as folding means -   A″ . . . main folding roller as enclosing means that constitute a     part of the enclosing-sealing means -   B″ . . . first folding roller as enclosing means that constitutes a     part of the enclosing-sealing means -   C″ . . . second folding roller as enclosing means that constitutes a     part of the enclosing-sealing means -   D″ . . . sheet carrier roller as enclosing means that constitutes a     part of the enclosing-sealing means -   a . . . sheet carrier roller as envelope inversion means -   b . . . sheet carrier roller as envelope inversion means -   g . . . sheet carrier roller as envelope inversion means -   27 . . . passage as envelope inversion means -   28 . . . passage as envelope inversion means

PRIOR ART LITERATURE Patent Literature

-   Patent literature 1: JP-A No. 7-52596 

1. A sealed letter preparing apparatus which performs printing on an envelope and an enclosure, and enclosing the enclosure in the envelope so as to be sealed to form a sealed letter, comprising: a printing unit that performs printing on the envelope and the enclosure, respectively for each of the sealed letters to be prepared; a first carrier passage that carries the envelope printed by the printing unit; a second carrier passage that carries the enclosure printed by the printing unit; and an enclosing-sealing means unit located at a junction of the first passage and the second passage, which performs sealing after enclosing the enclosure in the envelope.
 2. The sealed letter preparing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the envelope is formed by folding a sheet to be formed as the envelope; the first carrier passage is provided with first folding means that folds the sheet to be formed as the envelope into a shape of the envelope; and the enclosing-sealing means performs sealing after enclosing the enclosure in the sheet folded by the first folding means to be formed as the envelope.
 3. The sealed letter preparing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the enclosure is formed by folding the sheet to be formed as the enclosure; the second carrier passage is provided with an alignment member that holds the sheet to be formed as the enclosure, and second folding means that folds the sheet to be formed as the enclosure held at the alignment member; and the enclosing-sealing means performs sealing after enclosing the sheet to be formed as the enclosure, which has been folded by the second folding means in the envelope. 